Even Great Teams Have Off-Days

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, October 7, 1998

THOSE WHO have panicked because of the 49ers' loss to the Buffalo Bills last Sunday are victims of short-term memory loss.

Or, have you, too, forgotten that the 49ers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs, 44-9, last season, and still went on to a 13-3 regular-season record and made it to the NFC Championship Game?

An even better example: In 1994, the 49ers lost to the Philadelphia Eagles, 40-8, in the fifth game of the season. Nothing was working, said their critics. The offseason free-agent acquisitions were not playing well. The season was all but lost.

That team also finished 13-3, set a franchise record with 505 regular-season points and won the Super Bowl, 49-26, with Steve Young throwing a game-record six touchdown passes.

Clearly, even the best teams have those off- days when nothing goes right. Usually, it's a matter of emotion. A good team comes into a game with a bad team with a bad case of the blahs. And when football players are not at an emotional peak, they make sloppy mistakes and commit thoughtless penalties.

Which is exactly what the 49ers did against the Bills.

Some blamed the coaches for not preparing the team for the game, but that's a simplistic view.

Buried in the information about penalties was a note that the NFL record for penalty yardage in a game is held by the 1951 Cleveland Browns in a game against the Chicago Bears.

That Browns team was one of the best in NFL history. It had won four straight championships in the All America Football Conference. Absorbed into the NFL in 1950 (along with the 49ers), it won the NFL championship. In its first six years in the NFL, that team won three league championships and six conference titles.

Paul Brown is regarded by many as the best pro football coach ever, but he couldn't prevent the Browns from setting that penalty record.

Before Sunday, the 49ers were on a roll. They had handed the Redskins a record loss at home. They had rolled up 31 points and nearly 400 yards in the first half against Atlanta, which has lost only to the 49ers this season and scored 51 points last Sunday.

Certainly, the 49ers have some problems. With Dave Fiore out, they have to rely on Jamie Brown at left offensive tackle, and nobody knows how Brown will hold up.

Brown played reasonably well against Bruce Smith in the first half Sunday but had little luck in the second half. That's not surprising because Smith knew the 49ers, behind as much as 23-0 at one point, had to throw, so he could just go for Young. Brown's conditioning is probably not very good, either, because he had only two weeks of practice after coming off a suspension.

Cornerback Antonio Langham is a more puzzling case because he has played well in the NFL but looks totally lost now. It may be just a loss of confidence, but it's a definite concern with Marquez Pope out with a back injury and only rookie R.W. McQuarters available as a backup.

But, in this era of free agency, all teams have question marks and depth problems.

Though the season is only five weeks old (four weeks for the Niners), it's obvious that only a handful of teams have a legitimate shot at the Super Bowl.

In the AFC, defending Super Bowl champion Denver has been awesome, and Kansas City has played well and will be stronger when Elvis Grbac comes off the injury list. Jacksonville? Maybe. The Jaguars are 4-0, but they have not been impressive in winning.

In the NFC, the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings both look tough, and the 49ers will be there, too. It wouldn't surprise me if there is no other NFC team that finishes over .500.

The 49ers showed some fortitude in scoring three touchdowns in the fourth quarter in Buffalo. They actually had a chance to win until Curtis Buckley -- as reliable in his way as the Raiders' James Trapp -- was offside on an on-sides kick.

Now, their game in New Orleans on Sunday becomes a very important one. Not because the Saints are really that good -- their three wins, all close ones, have come against teams with a combined 1-10 record -- but because they have to show they can get back on track again.

I think they will, and the naysayers will retreat once again.

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